but days before he leaves office, panetta has bad news. he's proposing less money in their paycheck next year. panetta, a savvy washington operative in budget politics, is leaving it to congress to figure out how not to cut pay and keep thousands of defense employees on the job. >> we will furlough as many as 800,000 dod civilians around the country for up to 22 days. they could face a 20% cut in their salary. don't think that's going to impact on our economy? >> reporter: the recommendation to slow the military pay raise will put troops in the middle of that political fight between congress and the president over spending. >> he should be looking out for soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, that he sendses into harm's way. >> reporter: panetta is proposing just a 1% increase in troop pay for 2014. it should have been at least 1.7%, which was the increase this year. it may not be a huge deduction, but it's badly needed cash for strapped military families. for junior enlisted service member with two years in uniform, the basic pay is about $